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We track scheduled flights (what’s planned) and tracked flights (what took off) from a sample of the largest airports across the world.
Looking at data up to 31 October:
- Global departures continued to ease (-0.5% WoW) from their Q3 peak.With the number of global departures having trended about midway between 2019 and 2021 levels so far this year, there are strong signs that there is some way to go before normal levels are reached.
- China departures could fall further, despite a recent pickup (Beijing: +24.7% WoW; Shanghai: +5.4% WoW). The increase comes as several China airlines announced plans to increase the number of international flights, last week. Since then, however, Chinese cities have tightened restrictions on growing Covid-19 outbreaks – even the Shanghai Disney Resort has been forced to close (Chart A). Excluding China, departures across Asia pushed 1.3% WoW higher (Chart 2).
- Departures from Europe pushed back against recent declines (+1.3% WoW). This was largely driven by Milan (+10.3% WoW) and Rome (+3.8% WoW) – airports that were on strike the week before. Looking forward, it is likely departures continue to decline in line with historic seasonality. Looking ahead Eurocontrol predict European air traffic will not recover until 2025. Meanwhile, departures from the US tipped lower (-2.8% WoW).
Information on long-term movements in flight data is available below.